The effect of morphological form variation on adult first language incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Lee Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Extensive Reading ◽  
Morphological Form ◽  
Content Type ◽  
English Novel ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Drawing Tasks

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the effects of word internal morphological form variation on adult first language (L1) (n= 20) incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading.Design/methodology/approachParticipants were given a 37,611-token English novel containing pseudo words, placed throughout the text by the novelist. Two unexpected vocabulary assessments were administered at the completion of the reading task.FindingsResults showed statistically significant effects for morphological form variation, with the readers having incidentally acquired more words whose tokens did not vary in form (i.e. no exposure to inflectional or derivational variants). However, a large effect size was present only for low-frequency words (two-four exposures).Originality/valueDiscussion of the results is given regarding the feasibility of enhancing adult L1 college readers’ morphological awareness through extensive reading and attention-drawing tasks.

Comparing the Effects of Listening Input and Reading Input on EFL Learners’ Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-181
Author(s):  
Le Chang ◽  
Juncai Ma
Keyword(s):  
Information Transfer ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Transfer Task ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Multiple Choice Questions ◽  
Reading Group ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Listening Group

AbstractThis study examined the effects of either listening or reading input on 88 first-year non-English-major Chinese university EFL students’ incidental acquisition in vocabulary form, meaning and production. The students were put into a Listening Group (n = 47) and a Reading Group (n = 41), each of which finished either two listening activities (each consisting of a dialogic text and an information transfer task) or two reading activities (each consisting of a reading text and five multiple-choice questions). The four texts all contained five low-frequency target words which a revised Vocabulary Knowledge Test had shown to be only slightly known by the participants before the activities. The results of the post-tests showed that the Reading Group had general acquisition advantage over the Listening Group in terms of all the three vocabulary aspects, and due to the fact of rich target word contexts and repeated access to the texts, the Listening Group manifested vocabulary meaning acquisition nearly equal to the Reading Group. Overall, the study shows the notably advantageous effects of reading input on incidental vocabulary acquisition, and concerning facilitating vocabulary acquisition through listening, it points out the importance of increasing opportunities for learners to process listening input with rich contextual clues through task repetition.

The effects of word form variation and frequency on second language incidental vocabulary acquisition through reading

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Lee Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Marginal Effect ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Morphological Form ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Target Words

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate whether frequency of occurrence and the level of morphological form variation (i.e., none, inflectional, and derivational) exhibited by target words might interact to affect incidental acquisition through reading. An intact class of English as a foreign language learners (n=32) was given a copy of an unmodified 37,611-token English novel containing 49 target nonce words to read within two weeks. After reading, they were given two unexpected forms of assessment (meaning recall translation and meaning recognition multiple-choice). Meaning recall results indicate an average of 10 words having been acquired and meaning recognition results indicate an average of 25 words having been acquired. For the meaning recall data, a significant interaction effect between word form variation and frequency was found. Results point towards the conclusion that an increase in frequency may have a beneficial effect on acquisition for words whose tokens vary inflectionally, a marginal effect for words that do not vary in form, and little to no effect on words that vary derivationally. Examination of the meaning recognition acquisition results for a subset of 29 target words occurring 2–4 times to control for frequency of exposure found a significant effect for word form variation. Post hoc comparisons indicated that participants acquired significantly more target words that did not vary in form. There was no significant difference in acquisition between those that varied inflectionally and derivationally. Taken as a whole, the results of the current study indicate that word form variation does affect incidental acquisition and it can indeed present second language learners with difficulties, especially when less frequent input is received of words that vary in form. Implications for future incidental vocabulary acquisition research and classroom pedagogy incorporating reading and vocabulary instruction are discussed.

scholarly journals Extensive Reading and Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition: The Case of a Predominant Language Classroom Input

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Alsaif ◽  
Ahmed Masrai
Keyword(s):  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Receptive Vocabulary ◽  
Extensive Reading ◽  
Informal Activity ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Language Classroom ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Present Case Study

A considerable body of research has investigated the effectiveness of extensive reading on incidental vocabulary acquisition in second language (L2) learners. However, we still know very little about the relationship between extensive reading and vocabulary development among Saudi learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) where language classroom is the predominant source of learning, if not the only one. In the present case study, a single participant was instructed to read extensively for eight weeks as an informal activity outside the classroom. The participant’s written receptive vocabulary knowledge was measured before and after the treatment. Results indicated that extensive reading contributed largely to the participant’s vocabulary gain, suggesting that a vocabulary uptake of about eight words from extensive reading intervention has occurred compared to about two words per contact hour from language classroom input where reading texts are short and scattered throught the textbook. Finding is interpreted in order to provide some pedagogical recommendations.

INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY ACQUISITION IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

1999 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Huckin ◽  
James Coady
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Incidental Learning ◽  
Vocabulary Learning ◽  
Extensive Reading ◽  
Intensive Research ◽  
Actual Mechanism ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

It is widely agreed that much second language vocabulary learning occurs incidentally while the learner is engaged in extensive reading. After a decade of intensive research, however, the incidental learning of vocabulary is still not fully understood, and many questions remain unsettled. Key unresolved issues include the actual mechanism of incidental acquisition, the type and size of vocabulary needed for accurate guessing, the degree of exposure to a word needed for successful acquisition, the efficacy of different word-guessing strategies, the value of teaching explicit guessing strategies, the influence of different kinds of reading texts, the effects of input modification, and, more generally, the problems with incidental learning. This article briefly surveys the empirical research that has been done on these issues in recent years.

scholarly journals Impact of Informative Context’s Meaning Consistency During Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 679-697
Author(s):  
Randy Lowell ◽  
Kaitlyn Wade Pender ◽  
Katherine S. Binder
Keyword(s):  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition

scholarly journals Effect of Computer Multimedia Assisted Word Annotation on Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition of English Reading

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Mengqing Han ◽  
Shanshan Niu
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Experimental Result ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
Multimedia Annotation ◽  
English Reading ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary ◽  
Incidental Vocabulary Acquisition ◽  
Research Experiment

This paper aims at researching the effect of computer multimedia assisted word annotation on incidental vocabulary acquisition of English reading of Chinese students. An empirical research experiment is designed based on the ideas of word annotation, incidental vocabulary acquisition, multimedia annotation, and so on. Through analyzing, three main problems are put forward in this paper. In the empirical experiment, two variables of different annotation modes and subjects’ English levels are designed and immediate test and delayed test are adopted. By selecting suitable test subjects, test materials and test tool, an empirical research has been conducted and the corresponding conclusions have been drawn. The re-search takes the effect of individual English level differences on incidental vocabulary acquisition of English reading and the experimental result play a positive role in the selection of suitable computer assisted annotation modes for students of different English levels.

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